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Nearly half of Ontarians — 49 per cent — support the teachers in the dispute while about a third — 35 per cent — back the government, the Forum Research survey shows. Another 12 per cent endorse neither side and 4 per cent are unsure.

The results come as Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario members hold rotating strikes across the province to protest Bill 115, the legislation that imposes a two-year wage freeze and curbs rights and benefits.

“The teachers have done a really great job of positioning this as a collective bargaining issue. The teachers are getting their message out,” Forum president Lorne Bozinoff said Wednesday.

“The government has been trying to low-bridge this whole issue and they’ve not been antagonizing the teachers, but by doing that they haven’t really put their own case forward,” said Bozinoff. “So there’s been nothing to refute whatever the teachers have been saying.”

Forum polled 990 people on Monday using interactive voice-response telephone technology. The results are considered accurate to within three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Ken Coran, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, said public opinion may be growing in teachers’ favour because Ontarians have had time to learn about Bill 115 and its implications.

“There are a lot of ads, and the labour situation is sparking interest in Bill 115,” said Coran, whose members have withdrawn extracurricular activities to protest the controversial legislation, which takes effect Jan. 1.

“It’s only natural, as time progresses, more and more people will understand and more people will feel better able to cast a ballot one way or the other,” he said. “The concerns that we have expressed in the bill right from the start … are legitimate concerns.”

Indeed, 54 per cent disapprove of Bill 115, while 38 per cent approve of it and 8 per cent are uncertain.

Forum found 58 per cent buy the unions’ argument that the conflict is about collective bargaining rights. Twenty per cent believe the government’s contention that it is about wages; 15 per cent said it was over something else and 7 per cent didn’t know.

Senior Liberal officials concede the unions’ advertising blitz in newspapers and radio — which Premier Dalton McGuinty’s administration cannot counter owing to provincial laws — has had an impact.

Even the one-day strikes, such as those that hit Toronto and Waterloo Region on Tuesday, are not hindering the teachers’ federations much, due in part to the 72-hours’ notice given parents so they could arrange child care.

While 47 per cent disapprove and 43 per cent approve — with 10 per cent unsure — only 22 per cent of households said they have been inconvenienced by the walkouts.

Three-quarters of respondents — 75 per cent — said the strikes had not hurt them personally. Three per cent were uncertain.

“This has been a very Canadian type of protest: ‘In three days time, we’re going to go out for one day.’ That’s all worked to the teachers’ advantage,” said Bozinoff.

Still, not unlike results from a Forum survey carried out three weeks ago, 47 per cent of Ontarians believe the protests are ultimately ineffective. Forty-two per cent said they are effective, and 11 per cent didn’t know.